There’s a lot to admire in Lara Croft Go, but it reminded me that too much of a good thing at once could lose its charm. That’s not a knock against Go’s quality, but the puzzle turn-based game is more enjoyable in bursts.
Lara Croft GO
Square Enix Montreal / KO_OP
Price: $9.99 (Playstation Store)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation Vita, Windows Phone
MonsterVine was supplied with PlayStation 4 code for review.
Lara Croft Go launched in August 2015 for mobile devices but entered back into relevancy thanks to its release on the PlayStation 4 in December 2016. The game, developed by Square Enix Montreal, is a follow up to Hitman Go.
Much like Hitman Go, Square Enix Montreal transformed the action adventure franchise into a minimalist puzzle-turn based game. Lara Croft Go is confident in its modesty and delivers a mostly fun and engaging experience.
The gameplay is revolved around getting Lara from point A to point B on a turn-based system between the player and the level. Players move one space then watch the enemies and any traps or obstacles in the environment take a turn. It’s a quick process that happens seamlessly.
The puzzle aspect of the gameplay plays out like solving a math problem: players know the formula going into each level, the trick is applying that formula to each piece presented on the map. Solving the puzzles didn’t make me feel like I was missing anything glaringly obvious. I just needed to take the time to work out the level in my head to move Lara to the exit unscathed. The puzzles did wear thin after a while, which leads me to why Lara Croft Go is not fun to play for large chunks of time.
Anything longer than 30 minutes with Lara Croft Go made it feel tedious. The “ah-ha” moments of solving puzzles felt plodding if I sat down with the game for too long. I started relying on the game’s hint system (which is good in its own right) to rush through some mid-game levels. The more time I spent with it in one sitting, the less I was enthused about finishing it.
I also found playing Lara Croft Go with a controller, not the ideal experience. More times than not I would accidentally step in the way of an enemy or get tripped up in a trap and forced to restart the level. This was due to me either pushing the left analog stick too many times in one direction or in the wrong path altogether. The controls felt too sensitive for what I needed Lara to do so I never felt like I had direct control over her path. In terms of actually playing the game, Lara Croft Go doesn’t translate well to the PS4.
On the other hand, Go’s presentation is intriguing. The game has a pastel look to give players the impression of large ancient caverns. The visuals in a sense look like Lara Croft’s memories of tomb’s she has raided. I never grew tired of its visual design, which helped swallow those tedious long sessions with the game.
The music compliments the visuals by capturing Lara’s solitude in her adventure. It’s atmospheric and it stuck with me as my favorite part of Lara Croft Go. The game’s overall style does a good job of telling a story without the use of big production cut scenes found in the main Tomb Raider series by Crystal Dynamics.
“Mirror of Spirits”
The PS4 version of Lara Croft Go comes packed with the new “Mirror of Spirits” expansion. Developed by indie studio Ko-op, “Mirror of Spirits” is set in the Croft Manor and comes with new mechanics and puzzles. The most interesting hook required me to control Lara and her doppelganger that matches her movement in a mirror world. Controlling two Lara’s gave a little more life to the game’s exhausted puzzle formula. Overall “Mirror of Spirits” was a solid addition that helped flesh out Lara Croft Go’s content.
The Final Word
Playing Lara Croft Go for long stretches of time with a controller is not ideal by any means. But it didn’t detract to its overall quality. Lara Croft go has a lot of style going for it thanks to its art design and atmospheric music. The puzzles did wear thin but the mechanics were interesting enough to leave me satisfied.
– MonsterVine Review Score: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
